Handing Out Paperbacks One After Another! Tamagawa BOOK Flea Market 2026

Paperbacks used to be something you could buy casually

I used to think paperbacks were something you could buy for a single coin, but before I knew it, the number of books costing over 1,000 yen has increased recently. The wave of rising prices shows no signs of stopping, and the price of books goes up every year.

As someone who set up a stall at the book flea market, the Tamagawa BOOK Flea Market, I wished for people to read paperbacks casually, so just like last year, I priced all my paperbacks at 200 yen this year.

It put the customers at ease

I wrote "All paperbacks 200 yen" on a postcard-sized piece of paper with a magic marker and highlighter, and stuck it in a prominent place.

It ended up looking more like a supermarket POP sign than a bookstore, but because the price was known in advance, many customers took a look at the books.

The joy of choosing a book was born

Since they were all the same price, many customers didn't have to worry about the cost and could carefully examine the content of the books. Since paperbacks have synopses written on the back cover, they were reading those carefully.

There were many people with children, and my heart warmed to see children choosing books seriously after their parents told them, "You can buy any one book you like."

Families who came because their children love books would have the whole family buy one book each, with the parents saying, "Maybe I'll choose a book I like and read it too," or "I used to read when I was young, maybe I'll read again after a long time," once their child had bought a book.

It was a relief for me too...

By making everything 200 yen, calculating the money was easy, and I think I was able to relax and talk to everyone.

It was fun to talk to someone who likes Haruna Terachi just as much as I do.
When someone came looking to choose a book for their child, I recommended a book by Akiko Abe, and they were happy with it.
There was also someone who said they used to read Haruki Murakami's books in the past, but wanted to start reading again after a long time.

The paperbacks included books bought at new bookstores, old books from over 20 years ago, and signed copies; the condition varied, but watching the customers choose books, I started to feel that such differences didn't really matter.

Some people want a clean book, while others don't mind if it's old as long as the content is good, or they are drawn to the cover design, or they know the author, or they want to read a work by an author they don't know... I realized that the points where people find value in books are different for everyone.

Paperbacks sold at the BOOK Flea Market

Akiko Abe "To You, Who Are in a Place Farther Than Anywhere Else"
"For the Future Where I Meet You Again"
Hiro Arikawa "Hankyu Trains"
Kotaro Isaka "Aine Kleine Nachtmusik", "The King of Whale Heads", "PK"
Shin Iyohara "August Silver Snow"
Shogo Utano "Thinking of You in the Season of Cherry Blossoms"
Kozue Osaki "Lost Items Will Be Delivered"
Yoko Ogawa "The Housekeeper and the Professor"
Mieko Kawakami "Breasts and Eggs"
Atsushi Sato "Wasteland Family"
Saint-Exupéry "The Little Prince"
Bunji Sunagawa "Black Box"
Yoru Sumino "Love and That and Everything Else"
Tomoka Shibasaki "Spring Garden"
Mizuki Tsujimura "Tokyo Kaikan and Me" (Volumes 1 & 2)
Kikuko Tsumura "Saki's Lost Item"
Haruna Terachi "Moon Grapes", "Where Hope Goes"
"Today's Honey, Tomorrow's Me"
"Hotaruishi Magical Land"
Mimi Nagai "Sewing Machine and Goldfish"
Mado Nozaki "HELLO WORLD"
Chiya Fujino "Two People in the Housing Complex"
Tomihiko Morimi "That Child and Q"
Sonoko Machida "Gyoran", "Scooping Stars"
Kenji Miyazawa "Kenji Miyazawa Poetry Collection"
Haruki Murakami "Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage"
Sayaka Murata "Earthlings"
Eto Mori "Colorful"
Michiko Yazuki "Pure Coffee Shop Paon"

These are essays ↓
Carson "The Sense of Wonder"
Hayao Kawai "Story Story"
Shigehiko Toyama "The Art of Organizing Thoughts"
Rovelli "Seven Brief Lessons on Physics"

Out of the 42 paperbacks I brought, 38 were sold. I couldn't reach my goal of selling them all, but I was able to hand over 90% of the books.

And above all, it was a fun time again this year!

Thank you for reading until the end!